Democratic Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet's campaign offered a preview of its strategy for the general election today, saying Bennet will stick with his core issues of education, jobs and change in Washington, while also pushing a message that Republican Ken Buck is too extreme for Colorado.

"What we see is a very clear race between two candidates with very different views," Bennet campaign manager Craig Hughes told reporters on a conference call. Hughes said Buck had already started to walk back statements on social security and the 17th amendment that he'd made during the primary, saying "There's a real trust issue when it comes down to Ken Buck." Earlier in the week, the Bennet campaign distributed a list of pre-primary statements that Buck had made on issues like social security, student loans, and the 17th amendment, and comparing them to conflicting statements made since then.

Hughes said Buck had "joined in with the Sharron Angle, Rand Paul crowd" in a "tea party threesome."

While Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper has released an ad pledging to not run negative ads in his campaign, Hughes said Bennet would "will respond in kind" to any negative attacks from Buck or groups supporting him.

"I think what you saw in the primary is we responded when attacked," Hughes said. "You can expect a pretty aggressive campaign for us."

Hughes also said that Bennet had benefited from a tough primary fight with Andrew Romanoff.

"[Bennet] became better in terms of the message and what he's talking about, and his comfort level," Hughes said.

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Eric Lach is a reporter for TPM. From 2010 to 2011, he was a news writer in charge of the website?s front page. He has previously written for The Daily, NewYorker.com, GlobalPost and other publications. He can be reached at ericl@talkingpointsmemo.com